Broadcast leader & clock builder
Bars, tone, slate & countdown — timed to programme start.
Every file delivery opens with the same run-up: colour bars and line-up tone, an ident clock or slate, then black, with the first frame of action landing exactly on a fixed programme-start timecode — 10:00:00:00 for most broadcasters. Pick a spec to anchor the sheet to its real programme start, adjust the run-up, and print it for the edit — or run the live countdown clock and download the leader as an MP4.
| Timecode | Duration | Video | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:59:30:00 | 20 s | 100% bars (100/0/100/0) | 1 kHz line-up tone @ -18 dBFS |
| 09:59:50:00 | 7 s | Ident clock or slate: title, episode, duration, TC | Silence |
| 09:59:57:00 | 3 s | Black Black starts no later than 09:59:57:08 and runs at least 2 s 18 fr. The optional sync plop is 2 frames of at least 50% white with 1 frame of 1 kHz tone, first frame between 09:59:57:06 and 09:59:57:08. | Silence |
| 10:00:00:00 | — | Programme — first frame of action | Programme |
Run-up 30 s · leader starts 09:59:30:00
BBC, ITV, Channel 4, STV, NRK, TG4 (and SVT, where every element is optional): 20 s bars, at least 7 s clock, black to programme.
Segment durations
Colour bars & tones
Ident clock / slates
Blacks
Slate metadata (each line optional — empty removes it)
Related
- Line-up checker — check a leader someone else made: tone level, ident, phase and timing to the frame.
- Segment timing checker — check the black before the programme, and the parts and breaks after it, to the frame.
- Timecode calculator — add, subtract and convert SMPTE timecode.
- Loudness targets & gain — line-up level and programme loudness per spec.
- Safe areas & aspect ratio — where the slate text has to sit.
- Audio sync calculator — turn a flash-and-blip offset into a delay in frames, ms and samples.